My Name is John Lansing Jr.: Delegate of New York and Reluctant Architect I was born in Albany in 1754, a city that carried the sound of merchants’ carts, the sharp tongues of politicians, and the steady pulse of Dutch families who had lived there for generations. My own family was part of that old heritage, and from a young age I learned what it meant to balance civic duty with personal honor. New York was still a British colony in my youth, and the winds of independence had

My Name is Astyages: Last King of the Median Empire From above, where the sweep of time appears as a single long tapestry, I look back upon my life with the clarity that only distance can bring. I was the final ruler of a proud empire, the Median kingdom that stood between the ancient world’s shifting powers. My reign was marked by prophecy, fear, ambition, and the unexpected rise of a young Persian who would reshape history—my own grandson, Cyrus.   Heir to a Growing Empire

My Name is Edmund Randolph: The Constitutional Architect and America’s First Attorney General I was born on August 10, 1753, in Williamsburg, Virginia, into a family that had long been devoted to public service. My father, John Randolph, was a loyalist, while my uncle, Peyton Randolph, served as the first President of the Continental Congress. From an early age, I stood at the crossroads between loyalty to the Crown and commitment to the ideals of liberty. When the Revolution

My Name is Homer: The Poet of Early Memory My name is Homer, and though my eyes have long been clouded by time and blindness, I have seen farther into the soul of man than many who walked with sight. I was born among the Greeks, when the world was still new in story and song. My voice rose among the islands and shores of Ionia, where sailors told tales of heroes, gods, and distant lands. It was there I first heard whispers of people beyond the northern winds—horsemen of the e

My Name is Rufus King: The Federalist Diplomat I was born in 1755 in Scarborough, Massachusetts—what you now call Maine. My father was a prosperous merchant, and he saw to it that I was well educated. I attended Dummer Academy and later Harvard College, where I graduated in 1777, right in the midst of the American Revolution. I had intended to study law, but the world around me was changing too quickly for quiet study. The cause of liberty called to all young men of spirit, a

My Name is Tishtrya of the Steppe: Sky-Priest and Chieftain of the Sintashta People I was born beneath endless skies, where the wind rolls like a restless sea and the grass sings the names of our ancestors. My people, the Sintashta, lived where the rivers meet the horizon — a land both harsh and sacred. We followed the herds and the seasons, but unlike those before us, we built walls of earth and timber, forging the first strongholds of the steppe. From these fortresses, we w

My Name is George Mason: The Reluctant Patriot and Defender of Liberty I was born in 1725 on a plantation in Fairfax County, Virginia, along the banks of the Potomac River. My father died when I was still a boy, and my mother raised me with the quiet strength and dignity of a woman managing land and people in a changing colony. From her I learned patience, justice, and the importance of responsibility. I spent much of my youth studying law, philosophy, and government on my ow

My Name is Agum II (Agum-Kakrime): The Restorer of Babylon When I first looked upon Babylon, she was silent. The walls that had once echoed with the prayers of Marduk were cracked and blackened. The Hittites had come like a storm, striking down the house of Hammurabi and carrying away the statue of our great god. The Old Babylonian kings were gone, their cities left to ash and despair. I was not of their line. I was Kassite, born from the mountain tribes of the Zagros, a peop

My Name is Henry Knox: Soldier of the Revolution and Guardian of the Republic I was born in Boston in 1750, the son of a shipbuilder who passed away when I was just nine years old. Poverty pressed hard upon my family, so I left school early to work in a bookstore. Yet, surrounded by volumes on history, science, and warfare, I found my education among the pages. The art of fortification and military tactics fascinated me most, and though I could not attend a formal academy, I

My Name is Naram-Sin: King of the Four Quarters of the World I was born into the glory of an empire built by my grandfather, Sargon of Akkad, a man whose name was whispered with awe across Mesopotamia. From the Mediterranean to the mountains of Elam, all bowed before his might. I grew up in marble halls and golden temples, where scribes recorded his victories and priests offered incense to the gods who had favored him. I was told that I would one day inherit this world, and I